I can’t believe I waited ten years to stay in Radium.  I loved the overnight stay there and the morning was even better.  I enjoyed a coffee on my balcony and breathed in the fresh mountain air before getting ready to go.  Thanks to Midnight’s storage capabilities I was able to get everything packed and was ready to hit the road in about ten minutes…but I had to delay for a few minutes because a herd of bighorn sheep were strutting around the driveway to get out of the motel.

Fortunately they seemed used to people and slowly moved on as I rode up close to them to get out of the driveway and onto the highway.  I stopped for a cup of coffee and was able to get onto the highway heading south by around 8:00am.

There was a freshness to the morning air as the sun slowly made its way over the Rockies.  My body was not nearly as stiff and sore as I should be after yesterday’s marathon and I was feeling good about the tour so far.  Riding in the morning also gave me a better appreciation for the Rocky Mountain Trench.  I usually rode through here on the way to or from the Kootenays and was always in a rush so I never gave this place much thought…in fact I always thought of it as inferior to the Kootenays and Rockies it is sandwiched between.  It is a cool place though…I dig the vibe of being pressed up against the back of the west side of the Rockies…kind of like making in through Moria and seeing the Misty Mountains from the other side.

South of Invermere I came to Columbia Lake.  This was poignant (and deliberate).  The lake is the source of the Columbia River, the longest and largest river in the Pacific Northwest.  It goes north past Radium and Golden and goes nearly to Valemount before turning south and headed past Revelstoke, Castlegar, and then south into Washington.

By 9:30 I was in Cranbrook where I stopped at Staples to pick up a new computer power cord.  Luckily they had one…or you wouldn’t be reading this.

I gained an hour on the way to Creston, and I arrived in town at around 10:15 local time.  This is where advanced planning pays off.  The logical way to get to Astoria would be to go south of Creston and around the Selkirks to Spokane, and then take the interstate to Portland and beyond.  A few months ago I ordered the Washington edition of Destination Highways (the British Columbia edition is a permanent fixture on my tour planning)…and the book was pretty conclusive that the highways west of Spokane were pretty boring.  There were a lot of good highways in the book closer to the Canadian border, so I decided to take the Crowsnest to Grand Forks and go south from there.

Another factor affecting the tour route was the fact that the best highway in the universe is the Creston- Kootenay Bay highway…so it would be silly not to take it, even though it meant riding north and adding several hours to the trip.

Riding that highway made me incredibly happy.  Noon was approaching so the day was transforming from the crisp, dewy morning to a hot sunny midday.  It was approaching 30 degrees and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Midnight proved to be a solid bike on tight turns which was good because that entire highway is nothing but tight turns mixed with scenery and flawless engineering.  Every minute of that ride was enjoyable.

When I reached the ferry terminal I got even more excited.  I can’t figure out if I like riding the roads more…or if I like riding the ferries more.  It’s basically a free cruise across the most beautiful lake on the planet.

The only problem I had was that the sun was starting to heat things up and it became uncomfortable to stand in the heat with riding leathers.

I stood at the front of the ferry so that I could take advantage of the breeze as the ferry cut through the water across the massive lake.  The water was that deep green/turquoise colour…like it wasn’t even real…movie set water colour.

By the time the ferry landed at Balfour it was about 1:30 and it was 30 degrees.  I rode to Nelson without stopping, and then rode downtown in search of something for lunch.  I found a food truck and ordered a wild salmon wrap…when you’re in the Kootenays you have to find good food…Subway won’t cut it here.

It was after Nelson that the tour became laborious.  The hot sun beat down on me as I continued down the Crowsnest to Grand Forks.  I crossed over the Columbia River at Castlegar and thought of how I was at Columbia Lake only a few hours ago. During the Crowsnest leg I had to stop a few times to drink water and apply more sunscreen.  I was riding west so I was getting full sun all afternoon but I kept pressing on with the vision of jumping in the motel pool at the end of the day.  The problem was that Chelan was still over three hours away.

Crossing the United States border south of Grand Forks included a full search of my gear and fortunately I was free of any tobacco, liquor, drugs, firearms, large amounts of cash, or stowed aliens so I was free to carry on.  I was interested to see what “boundary country” looked like south of the boundary it’s named after.  I know the ride from Grand Forks to Midway and Rock Creek very well.  The scenery in Washington was similar as I rode west from Curlew along the Kettle River until I nearly reached the border at Midway and headed back south on the Toroda Creek Road until I hit Hwy 20 and descended into the Okanogan valley (they spell it differently than in Canada).

Picture Kelowna, Penticton, and Osoyoos without the lakes.  It’s basically all like Oliver south of the border…which was cool for me because I dig the topography…light browns hills covered in black trees and sage.  I was also on Hwy 97…the same highway that runs through the Okanagan in BC and eventually over to Cache Creek and north.  The highway in Washington runs alongside the Okanagan River until it empties into the Columbia River.  From there I followed the Columbia to Chelan.

Chelan is supposed to have a massive lake that my friend Shane told me is Washington’s version of Lake Okanagan.  I didn’t have a chance to see it though.  By the time I reached the motel it was just after 8:00 local time , which means that with the hour I picked up it was 13 hours since I left Radium.  I was exhausted, hot, and hungry.  After unpacking Midnight I jumped into their pool for a few minutes.  The pool wasn’t as good as the one in Radium.  It was half covered so they can use it all year.  Regardless, it was refreshing after such a long day.  I didn’t even have the energy to go out for dinner.

Sometimes it’s cool just to hang out in your motel room.  I ordered delivery and sorted my gear in preparation for another early start tomorrow.  If I stay organized and take advantage of Midnight’s storage capabilities I will be able to continue making good time. Nothing has broken down yet, and I was even able to troubleshoot the computer charger problem.  I compiled my pictures and some video I’ve been shooting with my Gopro.  Everything is going according to plan… just one more big day to go and then I can relax for a while.

Here’s a video of the day: